Politics, Church & Society

Never again

“Run, leave everything behind!” The mother picked up her youngest child, an infant of a few months old, grabbed her youngest daughter with her other hand and called the others. They left their home without looking back and set for the caves in the hills surrounding the small village. They met with other families and hid themselves. Outside they could hear the sounds of the nearing horsemen. Men were shouting and giving orders. The baby started to cry and his mother pressed him against her chest. The wait was long, and only when a fellow villager entered the cave to tell them the coast was clear, they dared to speak again. Some praised God. The mother looked at her boy, he had stopped breathing and passed away.

This particular event took place 99 years ago in the Christian village of Bote (Bardakci), a village near Midyat in current South East Turkey. And in the 99 years that followed this and other stories were passed on to younger generations of Aramean Christians, so we would never forget. The boy in the story, if he would have survived, would have been my grandfather’s uncle. What is known to the world as the ‘Armenian Genocide’ is also a dark chapter in the history of Greek and Aramean christians who lived in the Ottoman empire. It’s successor, the Turkish Republic, still denies that these events were in fact a genocide.

‘Never again’ said the whole world after World War II, ‘Never again’ said the world again after the horrible genocide committed by the Hutu on the Tutsi of Rwanda in 1993. But it is happening again, right under our eyes, in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Sudan. With reports and graphic images pouring over Twitter and FaceBook feeds and other media, I can only ask: what is happening to the world, why is no one helping? I find it inapropriate to congratulate someone in the midst of these unnerving messages or post something about things as a football match.

The US, France and England started to act by aiding the Kurds in Iraq’s beleaguered north. But the US is reluctant to commit itself again to a war (for which it holds part of the blame). Nearer to my home, the EU fails to formulate a sensible foreign policy and is still stuck in the aftermath of the financial crisis (where is Ashton by the way?). Russia, while more realistic towards the uprising in Syria a couple of years ago, shifted its focus to the Ukraine, a conflict it instigated for a large part.

The most blatant example of indifference towards the killing of thousands of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq came from the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs, mr Frans Timmermans. On questions asked by MP Pieter Omtzigt (CDA), which were sponsored by various other parties, on the current situation and whether the massacres can be classified as genocide. The Minister answered that although Christians have no easy time in Iraq, their rights are protected by law. Whether genocide is commited by IS can only be determined afterwards. His answers couldn’t have been more cynical. Who will give the people their churches, homes and livelihoods back? Who will be prosecuted in court for killing, raping and kidnapping of innocent women and children? A law can only protect someone if it’s enforced and if the society is willing to uphold and abide to it. While IS has shown no restraint whatsoever, the Dutch Parliament even failed to pass a motion to call on an international investigation to be led by the UN. Not long ago, there were a couple of million Christians living in Syria and Iraq. One can’t dare to imagine a Middle East without its indigenous people, but it will be a reality if actions are not taken soon.

100 years ago the world waited for the Ottoman empire to fall apart, to find out about it’s horrors much later. ‘Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?’ Hitler concluded his statement at the advent of the invasion of Poland with this reference. Had the world acted then, in 1939, the Holocaust would not have happened. ‘Never again’ was the credo of the United Nations and world leaders. Dear nations and leaders: it is happening again, please unite and lead.

Update 14-08-2014: The Dutch government now speaks of ‘possible acts of genocide committed by IS’. With this breakthrough, The Netherlands and others are called to action to prevent further destruction of lives and property by various MPs. According to the UN charter the world has to act. A Security Council resolution is desperately needed. EU talks will be held this Friday.